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Seeding methods

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Wild leek

Photo: Biodôme de Montréal

There are two seeding methods: In rows and in plots

Whichever configuration you select, be sure to mark your planting site so you can find your seedlings later! Tie some easily visible ribbons to branches or paint blazes on trees near the chosen site so you can spot them easily, whatever the season. It is important to remember that the seedlings will only come up a year after planting and that wild leek seedlings are only visible for about one month a year, in May. The seeding techniques suggested here can serve as a guide, but are no substitute for experience… It is important that you adapt them to the selected site.

In rows

Simple to carry out, seeding in rows makes it easy to monitor plant growth. Several furrows should be readied to distribute the seeds evenly in their new habitat. Mark the placement of each, then separate the seeds into packets of 50 and sow one packet in each furrow. The ideal length for a row is one metre. First push the litter to one side and then dig a narrow channel with a rake or a trowel (2 or 3 cm wide and 1 cm deep). Place a marker at each end of the row (the small coloured plastic markers provided in the pots sold at nurseries). Then sow the seeds along the row and cover them with a thin (1 cm) layer of soil. After patting the soil down lightly, replace the litter. If, after a few years, you see that the plants are too close together, it will be easy to transplant some of them elsewhere in your woodlot without disturbing the colony.

Sowing in plots

Sowing in small plots allows the wider distribution of a batch of seeds in the potential habitat, but seedling growth becomes more difficult to track. First, establish a transect line: put down a 10-metre-long ribbon and lay out small plots every metre. Each10 cm X 10 cm square plot can accommodate a dozen seeds. Put a small plastic marker into the corner of each plot and push the litter to one side with a trowel, then loosen the surface of the soil and distribute the seeds. Cover with a thin layer of soil (1 cm), pat down lightly and replace the litter.